Cost of replacing Air Handler coil

[mabelleen]

The AC guys have been out a few times telling me that I have a leak in my AC unit (6 years old) - a 2.5 air handler. It is only holding freon for a week or so max before it needs more freon added. They said the coil is badly rusted and I have the option of a) replacing the entire unit inside/out - $8000-$10K, b) replacing the inside unit only for $3000 -

4500 or c) replacing just the coil for around $2500.

The last technician said he thinks the coil could possibly still be under warranty as the AC manufacturer was offering a 10 yr warranty on major parts during that time. If it is, he said the price would only be $1400 for labor, freon, etc...

That seems pretty high to me. Does anyone know what the cost would be with / without the warranty present?

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[trader4]

Those prices are outrageous. The cost of a new cased coil itself is about $600 or so. That's what YOU could buy one for online. Presumably those thieves are getting discounts that make it even less. Add in another $500 for labor and misc and the whole job should be $1100. You could buy the entire system equipment for well under $2000 and have a whole new system for under $3,000 and that's for probably a 16 SEER system.

Run away from those guys. I'd be suspicious as to their overall diagnosis too. I had quotes last year here in the NJ/nyc area where prices aren't cheap for $8K or less to replace an entire 5 ton AC and 120K BTU gas furnace.

[Bob Villa]

What's wrong will foo people...we talked to you...and that's a stretch?!

[jamesgangnc]

You need to find new ac guys. They are charging too much for labor. A cased coil is typically 5 or 6 hundred. I find that for a ball park estimate you can double the equipment price to get an installed price.

[The Daring Dufas]

Me and my buddy GB who I work with on HVAC systems just fixed a leak like that for a good customer. It was an older Carrier system that would lose its Freon after a week. It had several leaks the worst being the shut off valves on the condensing unit. The valves are under large hex shaped screw on caps where the line set attaches to the condenser outdoors. The O ring seals started leaking after a dozen years of service so I used Leak-Lock on the caps to stop those leaks, I also replaced the Schrader valve cores because they can also leak after so many years. There was still a tiny pinhole leak somewhere that didn't show up even though we crawled all over the system including the air handler/furnace which is under the house. The last tiny leak was fixed with a stop leak additive manufactured by Cliplight Manufacturing Co.

The unit is now running leak free and the sealer stays in the system to seal any more tiny leaks that may develop. The problem was the amount of time it took to find and repair the leaks because we weren't the first to try to find and repair them. I cut the price for the customer almost in half because it would have been around $1,400.00 in time if I just added everything up. The guy has been a good customer for years with the businesses he owns that I service so he got a real deal.

TDD

[santafecollege]

outrageous